Jesus Adames spent the entire 2013 season with the Dayton Dragons. At 22-years old, the right-handed reliever was playing full-season ball for the first time in his career.
His April started out with two scoreless appearances. In those two games, he threw 4 innings and gave up only one hit, plus a walk and 3 strikeouts. His next two appearances were both one earned run showings but he also gave up 4 hits in each outing. On the 23rd against Lansing, he would get a win in 2.2 innings of scoreless work. He also collected 3 strikeouts without giving up a walk. A 3 inning appearance would end the month with one earned run, 3 hits, and 2 more walks added. All in all, April produced a 1.80 ERA and 1.20 WHIP through 15 innings of work. He was able to limit the walks to just 3 and strikeout 11 batters.
May would begin well but the month as a whole was not a good one. His first two games witnessed only one hit, one walk, and 3 strikeouts in 3 innings. Then, three of the next four performances were 2 earned run outings. On the 24th against West Michigan, he seemed to rebound in a 1 inning display where he accumulated 2 strikeouts and a hit. In his last appearance of the month however, he would surrender 5 earned runs in 0.2 innings against South Bend on the 28th. His night saw only two hits but 3 walks set him back more. The month trended down from the previous as his 9.58 ERA and 1.94 WHIP indicates. He saw a drop in strikeouts with only 8 and an increase in walks with 6 in 10.1 total innings.
As bad as May was, June went even worse for Adames. His first two games of the month both delivered 3 earned run showings. He also gave up a total of 8 walks and struck out only one in those 3.1 innings. In a loss on the 15th, he held South Bend to one earned run in an inning of work with 3 hits, a walk, and a strikeout. His next showing was impressive as he was perfect through 2 innings but was unable to strikeout Lake County. Then, it went all wrong against Lansing on the 23rd. He gave up 6 earned runs on 5 hits and a walk. To end the month, he relinquished one hit in one inning’s work. Snowballing off of last month’s struggles, June captured a 14.04 ERA and 2.88 WHIP in just 8.1 innings. He was only able to supply 2 strikeouts and handed out 10 free passes.
Adames started to turn things around in July but it was a tale of two halves. The first half saw 8 innings where he conceded 6 earned runs from 12 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts, and a loss. The first half saw a 6.75 ERA and 1.88 WHIP. Then, something seemed to click. In 3 games, he tossed 7 innings with just one earned run, 6 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts, and a win. His improved half of the month flashed a 1.29 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. The entire month of July displayed a 4.20 ERA and 1.60 WHIP.
As a whole, August would continue to trend in the right direction. After giving up 3 earned runs and 7 hits in his first 3 innings of work, he would rip off 7 innings of one hit ball to close out the month. In those 6 games, he struck out 4 and did not give up a walk. August was no doubt one of Adames’ best complete months of work. He dazzled with a 2.70 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 10 innings. His strikeout to walk ratio of 6 to 2 was also good to see.
September brought about two more games and Adames was able to extend his scoreless innings streak another 2.2 innings. He also totaled an impressive 5 strikeouts and no walks in those games.
Adames’ season can be split into two totally opposite halves. From the start of the season to July 14th, he compiled a 7.13 ERA and 1.85 WHIP in 41.2 innings of relief. He only tallied 28 strikeouts while walking 22 batters. Then, from July 19th to the end of the season, he was able to fire off 19.2 innings that led to a 1.83 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. More impressively, he struck out 16 and walked just 5.
Season Stats
| W | L | ERA | SV | IP | H | HR | BB | K | WHIP | K/BB |
| 3 | 3 | 5.58 | 1 | 59.2 | 71 | 5 | 27 | 44 | 1.64 | 1.63 |
Overall Thoughts
Jesus Adames battled to find consistency during 2013. He bookended the season with two strong months, but had two terrible months and a solid month in the middle of the season that seemed hinged on struggles to find the strikezone. When he was able to control the walk rate, he turned in good months, but when he wasn’t, he was pummeled. Look for him to repeat with Dayton in 2014 and try to find better consistency.